Since the start the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, both bedroom DJs and seasoned pros have offered up a wealth of live streams, mixes, podcasts and radio shows. We’ve noticed a number of Bleep & Bass themed or inspired ones appearing, many of which reference the influence of our book and compilation.

Naturally this makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside, so we thought we’d repay the favour and highlight a few that have set our ears alight in recent times. We’ve also included some older mixes, podcasts and sets that remain relevant. So, in no particular order…

Join The Future mixed by Edzy (Unique 3)

If you’re after a quick fix, whack this on. It sees Unique 3 main man Edzy mixing up tracks from our compilation in fine fashion. Speaking of which, the compilation is available to stream in all the usual places (Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp etc) if you fancy listening to it from start to finish.

Bleep Mix 104: JD Twitch

Bleep.com asked our old pal JD Twitch to record a mix for their ongoing series in order to promote the Join The Future compilation. As usual, he delivered, joining the dots between classic cuts, more recent tracks inspired by Bleep & Bass, some of his personal favourites and the odd rarity. As you’d expect, it’s an absolute masterclass. If you’ve not listened to it yet, you should get your ears round it pronto!

Gumbo DJ – Bleep & Bass Mix

Gumbo DJ is the alias of a lovely fella named Pete O’Brien. He’s a dedicated bleep aficionado who has been very supportive of the book. He came down to the launch party we did at Rye Wax and introduced himself. We had a good chat and a couple of months later he got in touch to say he was working on a mix inspired by the book. Here it is: a whirlwind trip through original Bleep & Bass and Bleep & Breaks that not only features a wealth of well-known cuts, but also B-sides, alternate versions and lesser-celebrated gems. It also includes snippets of dialogue from the talk Colin Steven and I did at Rye Wax, a talk you can listen to in full here.

BStorm – Acid Music For Acid People

The work of effervescent old school raver BStorm (AKA Andrew Barton) of the Desert Storm Soundsystem collective, this hugely enjoyable mix was inspired by reading Join The Future. It’s not a straight bleep mix, but rather a celebration of the period of time the book focuses on. So as well as bleep you also get wiggling acid jackers, warehouse-ready pumpers, body-popping electro, sweaty early hardcore, stab-happy rave anthems and a dash of stomping techno. Perfect Friday night fare for those who itch to have a dance around their living room/bedroom/kitchen.

Holler – Bleep & Bass Special (DDR – Dublin Digital Radio, February 2020)

This informative and entertaining mix/radio show was first broadcast on Dublin Digital Radio back in February. Hosted by Irish duo Holler, the show goes through industrial, dub and slower bass-heavy jams from the period before unleashing serious bass-weight and waves of bleeps. Holler 33 has also sewn in spoken word samples and pops up on the mix to explain a little about the story behind the Bleep & Bass movement and of course Join The Future, which he read before putting together the show. A good place to start if you want a wider view and fancy hearing some dub as well as Bleep & Bass, hardcore etc.

Bruits with Ben Sleia –April 2020: Bleep & Bass Special

First broadcast earlier this month on Liverpool-based online station Melodic Distraction, this is a deep, two-hour bleep & bass mix from DJ Léa Ben Saïd aka Ben Sleia. It includes a clutch of classics of course, but also lesser-celebrated tracks from some of the big names (Unique 3, LFO, Forgemasters etc) and relative obscurities from the bleep and clonk spectrum. Léa says during the show that she was inspired to do this special by reading Join The Future, which she also described in glowing terms. A downloadable version is available via the Melodic Distraction website, where you’ll also find a full track list.

Chow Down w/ Utah? – Bleep & Bass Special (NTS2, August 2019)

Those who have read Join The Future will recognise this show, because Utah? – the Sheffield DJ/producer behind the show – contacted me beforehand to talk Bleep and some of our conversations ended up in the book. If you’ve not listened, it’s worth checking, in part because it contains bass-heavy cuts from the last few years that can in some way trace their roots back to Bleep (as well as a clutch of original tunes of course). Head here to listen.

Altern8 – Activ8 (NHS Isol 8 Remix)

Naturally we had to include this fresh rework of Altern8 classic “Activ8” from the one and only Mark Archer. He decided to rework the 1991 track in order to raise money for charities supporting the National Health Service during the pandemic. The proceeds from every stream and download will go to charity. It’s currently up on streaming services such as Spotify (so feel free to play it as many times as you want, as they pay royalties per stream) but from Friday 25th April will also be available to buy as a downloadable single. We’ll update this article to include links to where you can buy it once it drops.

Finally, if that’s not enough audio goodness to keep you going, you’ll find links to some of my radio shows and mixes over on our Audio page.